1 Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society
100 Caja del Rio Road
505-983-4309
“Up and down, up and down, up and down, 1,000 times a day.” This, according to Bill Hutchison, communications manager of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society, is one of the secrets to keeping the animals healthy at the shelter: They are provided with levels inside their living spaces so they have something on which to move around. Dogs also get new toys every day and cats get to trot and jump around the ropes, wood slats and comfy beds that constitute the Cat Colonies. There are also four dog parks and a track where volunteers can walk the dogs or host “Puppy Play.”

With such amenities, the animals would probably vote the shelter No. 1 too, if they could vote. However, concerning the larger, more human community, Hutchinson feels what the shelter does best is “listening to the community, its everyday on-the-ground needs.” The shelter has a new executive director, Mary Martin, a new website, longer hours for both clinic and adoption center, and a Kitten Nursery, where kittens too young for the general population are kept.
 

It’s just as adorable as it sounds. Cute, friendly, clean--this place provides just as much therapy to the human visitors as medical aid to the animals. (Caroline K Gorman)

2 Española Valley Humane Society, 108 Hamm Pkwy., Española, 505-753-8662

3 Assistance Dogs of the West, 730 St. Michael’s Drive, 505-986-9748